Brits dirty water problems

Brits’ residents have been experiencing ‘dirty’ water as well as shortage in some areas for more than a week now.
The Madibeng municipality blames it on the Hartbeespooort Dam and “adverse capacity constraints.”
However, it seems the problem has more to do with the neglected and malfunctioning Brits water purification plant than anything else.
According to ward councillor Leon Basson who visited the plant this week, it is not being maintained, many of the sand beds are out of order and those in use have little or no sand for water to filter through. On top of this, the new pumps installed last year are either stripped or leaking.
“With regards to the capacity, of course the water supply has diminished. Because some of the filters are not working, the water has to be circulated through the system for a longer period to be purified,” Basson said.
“It comes down to a total lack of maintenance. The sand beds should be 1.5m deep but some places there is no sand. Full sandbags have been lying next to the beds for months now, but no one has bothered to throw them in. Weeds have started to grow in some of the unused sand beds and the leaking water pumps are being held together with plastic bags.”
“The deteriorated raw water quality is unavoidable as it emanates from the Hartbeespoort Dam,” said municipal spokesperson Lebogang Tsogang.
“The prolonged hot, dry weather stimulated the growth of algae in the Hartbeespoort Dam and this in turn affected the quality of the water produced at the purification plant. It was necessary to optimise the treatment process at the purification plant which includes reduction of inflow and cleaning of process units at the plant. Already we have seen a significant improvement in terms of quality and quantity of water. Furthermore, Magalies Water will be commencing with refurbishment of the filters and the contractor is expected to be on site by the end of February 2013.”
She said the municipality is providing water tankers to all affected areas as well as additional storage and will continuously ensure that all the tankers are clean and disinfected in order to “avert aggravating the situation.”Kormorant 28 February to 6 March 2013

It is disgusting…. yet I’m not surprised. THAT is the horrible truth. Having to rely on these municipalities is indeed scary. What do you do without water? Harvest rainwater and store it in water tanks. We always install those systems with a permanent back-up water supply. THAT helps me sleep at night; knowing I have water in my tanks.